Machine for making tags



L'NTTED STATES PATENT Ormea.

THOMAS B. DE FOREST, OF BIRMINGHAM, CONNECTICUT.

MACHINE FOR MAKING TAGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,684, dated November24, 1863.

T 0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, T. B. DE FOREST, of Birmingham, of the county of NewHaven, in the State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Manlifacture of Tags or Labels; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a. full and exact description thereof,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part ot' thisapplication.

My invention relates to an improved method of making what are known astags (or price labels) by an organized machine for that purpose, whichperforms the several operations necessary to produce from the materialsupplied to the machine a complete tag; and my invention may be said toconsist, first, in the employment of a strip of material having properor suitable eyes formed in it, as hereinafter explained, in connectionwith a device or. mechanism for receiving and cutting or stamping outpieces of a given design from v,said strip of material, as hereinafterset forth and my invention also consists in the employment a feedingmachainsm, in connection with a stamping-out or cutting-oft' device;when the two mechanismsare made to operate in such manner as to take astrip of material in which the eyes are formed and divide it into piecesof equal size and similar design, with an eye in each piece, ashereinafter fully set forth.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe it, referring to the accompaning drawings, tormingpart of this application, in whichy Figure l is a front elevation of anorganized machine for making tags, in accordance with my improved methodof manufacture. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section at the line z .eofFig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical section at the line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. etis a vertical section at the line :t x, Fig. l; and Fig. 5 is a planview ofa portion of the strip of material out of which the tags areformed, and which will be presentl y explained more particularly.

In Fig. l the blue lines represent the strip cf material passing throughthe machine. In Fig. 2 the red lines represent the paper or material.The black arrows indicate the directions of viewing the machine in thesectional views. The arrows in red lines indicate the direction ofmotion of the material as itis fed through the machine.

Wherever the same letters occur in the sev, eral iigures they indicatethe same part ot' the machine.

A is the body or main frame ofthe machine, which may be supported by apedestal or set of legs,`or upon a bench, as taste or circumstances m'aysuggest. From the top of the 'body A extend upward two smaller box-likeportions, A A. These boxes- A Al arelocated near either end ot' the mainbody A. They are equidistan t., longitudinally, from the center of thebody A, and areabout equal in length to the width of said body A, andfrom their upper surfaces extend upward the stands E E', in which workthe two sliding carriages F and F', in a manner which will be presentlydescribed.

B is a table which is formed ofa plain plate arranged so as t0 extendfrom one of the boxes A to the otheron the'same level with their topsurfaces-that is, so as to form a continuation of the planes of the topsurfaces of boxes -A A. This table B may be nearlyr equal in width tothe distance (on boxes A A) from the fronts ot' stands E E to the frontsof boxes A A. Im mediately in the rear of table B, and arranged in aplane at right angles to the plane of B, is a plate, D, which extendsfrom stand Fi to stand E?, and the front side of which is flush with thefront sides ot' stands E E. This plate l) is formed with a dovetailingprojection on its back side. (see Fig. 3,)

on which works the carriage b b', which carries the feeder, as will bepresently explained. The plate D extends a short distance down below theplane of table B, and on such ex tended portion D (see Figs. l and 3)are formed or arranged the grooves t' j and the way h, the operation ofwhich will be presently explained.

O is the main driving-shaft of themachine, which passes longitudinallythrough the main body A, as shown, and has suitable bearings in the endsthereof. At one end of said shaft O the power may be applied by means ofany ordinary drivin g-pulley, or, as illustrated, by a crank-handle, ifhand-powerbe used. I contemplate, however, always using some othermotive power.

On the shaft O are secured three cams, T, V,

and W. Themiddle one, T,is a face-cam, (the shape of which is 'clearlyillustrated,) and works against a friction-wheel, Z, hung in the lowerend ofthe arm U, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) which arm is kept up toward thecam T by a spring, t, and is fastened at its upper end to the rockshaftB2 and works said shaft in its bearings as boxes Y Y. To the front endof said shaft B2 is keyed thelower end of a bifurcated bar, O', which,by the rocking of the shaft B2, is caused to vibrate at its upper end,

carrying with itthe pin or stud C2 of the sliding carriage b b', whichstud projects into the bil'ureated or slotted portion of said arm O'. Inthe rear of arm U there is secured to` the shaft B2 another vibratingarm, L', (see Figs. l and 3,) which serves as a stop and cornes againsta lug or pin, a4, which projects up from the top of body A. (See Figs. 2and 8.)

Thearnis U and L' may be secured to the shaft B2 by set-screws a2 b2, orin any other desirable manner. The cams V W operate upon and move tworeciprocating carriages, which in turn move the carriages F and F' bybeing fast thereto. Only one of these carriages is shown inl thedrawings-the one which is worked by the cam V-but since the two aredupli.

cates a description of it and its operationwill answer for both. It isseen at G2, Figs. 3' and 4, (in Fig. 4 the pla-ne ofsection passesthrough the carriage G2, in Fig. 3 it passes in front of' E2 E2, (seeFig. 3,) and, the carriage or plate F being secured to the plate G2, itfollows that F is caused to move or reciprocate vertically in itsbearings in the stand E. The cam W operates in a similar manner onanother carriage like G2, which in like manner drives the carriage F'vertically up and down in its bearings in the stand E. i

The carriages F and F' are provided, respectively, wit-h arms or standsHand H', which move with them, oneof which, H, carries the`eyeleting-punch or upper die, 7c l, the

other. H', carries the cutting or stamping out die P'. From the arm orstand H there projects a slotted bar, J, `in which is arranged (in suchmanner as that it can be set nearer to or .farther from said stand) ahead, I, which cari ries on its lower end an embossing or printing die,K, on which is formed the punching-out male die a. (See Fig.,1

As already mentioned, the carriageb b' is caused to slide on thedovetail-bearingv or plate I) (see Fig. 3) by means of thevibration ofarm O'. Now, through upper andlower portions of said carriage b b' thereis arranged f in front of plate D, and so as to be capable of a verticalreciprocating motion, a bar, l', (see` Figs. l, 2, 3,) at the lower endof which is a stud, a, on which is hung, so as to turn freely, a wheel,K'. This wheel K' rests on an adjustable plate, M', (see Figs. 1 and 3,)which is provided with a stop and lifter, N. Above the wheel K' there isarrangedin the bar I' a spring bolt or latch, g, (see Figs.'3 and 1,)the back end of which works in the groovesj, (see Figs. l and 3,) andabove the table B there projects from said bar 1 an arm or stand, d,which carries the feeder-point f, and between the upper side of whicharin and the upper end of carriage b is arranged a spring, c, in such amanner as to exert a constant tendency to slide the bar l' downward inits bearings in the carriage b b' and keepthe wheel K hard down into theplate M'. As the carriage b b' is moved along on the plate D, as beforementioned, the wheel K' travels along on theplate M' until it comesagainst the stop and lifter N. When wheel K' strikes N, it ascends thestop N, (carrying up, of course, with it the bar l' and all itsattachments against the presence of spring 0,) and rides on top of ituntil the motion of carriage b b'is reversed. When the lifter N liftsthc wheel K', the spring catch or bolt g o5 (see Fig. 3) is forced inand iiies out again over or on top of the rib or bar h, on which itrides (holding up the bar 1') during the reverse or return motion ofcarriage b b'. As soon as the bolt o5 arrives at the other end ot' ribor bar 11;' and passes by it, the spring c forces the bar I' down untilthe wheel K' comes against the plate M'. (The grooves 'i andj extend ashort distance beyond the end of rib h and communicate so as to allowthe bolt o5 to pass down without being forced inward.) lt will beunderstood' that as the carriage b b' reciprocates the feeder-pointfmoves alongin contact with table B until the wheel K' strikes N, thenthe feeder-point f is lifted some distance above the table B and returnsin this elevated position t0 the point from whence it started, thendrops down ready to make another forward or feeding stroke, and it willalso be understood that the point continues feeding until lifted by theaction of lifter N on wheel K', and hence by shifting the position of N(by moving the plate M', to which it is fast) the length of feed may bevaried at pleasure, the object of which will -be presently explained.

c is a cam-lever pivoted to bar 4l' above the carriage b, and which,when turned, lifts and holds up the bar I so as to keep the feeder faway from the table, very much after the fashion of the lifter on thepresser-foot bar of a sewing-machine.

' G is a plate arranged immediately over the table B and of about thesame size. This plate C rests on the table B, but has a longitudinal`recess or rabbet runnin g entirely across it centrally on its underside (see Fig. 3 and dotted lines, Fig. 2) in such manner as that whenthe plate G is placed on the table B, as shown, a channel will be formedwhere the two come together. This channel is about v therein inserted.

rectangular holes cut through it-one largerl vthan the otherone for thefeeder-point j' to equal in width 'to the width of the strip ot' paperor other material to be worked or run through it, and sufficiently highto admit of the thickness of the material and the eyelets The plate Chas also two travel along in, the other, and wider one, to see thematerial passing through and to facilitate the operator in stopping anddrawing back the strip of material should the eyeleting mechanism missor fail to insert an eyelet.

G is a small table extending out from A, level with it and the table B,and on which v are formed or arranOed the female rintinO e, l p e orembossing die D5 and the female punching out dieI a5. ln the top plateof the opposite box, A,.is cut out the female stamping or cutting-outvdie D4, (see Fig. 2,) into which works the die P. (See Fig. 1.) lhetags or pieces cut out by these last-mentioned dies fall through into aninclined plate, L3, and pass out in it through an opening in the frontside of A. See Figi.) On one end of the shaft O is fastened aratchet-wheel, N', which in its rotation operates upon a projection onthe handle M ot' a hammer, L, in such manner as lo periodically move thehammer L backward or away from the chute Q, (see Fig. 1,) while aspring, S, attached at one end to the handle M and at the other endtothe stud S5, (in which said lhan dle turns,) exerts a continualpressure, tending to force the hammer M toward and against the chute Q.The result ot' this combination of devices is a constant knocking orhammering against the chute Q by the hammer M, which insures the passageof the eyelets down through said chute. (lf the column ofeyeletssupplied to the chute Q were allowed to feed down only by their gravity,without any shaking, they would sometimes stick, and the eyeletingmechanism would not be punctually supplied.)

w is a removable slide or plate covering the slot and bar which carrythe eyelets from the chute to the eyelet-insertingmechanism, which ismost clearly seen at Fig. et. A single eyelet at the time is fed orcarried forward (from the supply column or chute tbl) by thereciprocating' bar o3 and placed on top of the hollow die fil, as shownin red, Fig. 4, the material to be eyeleted lying on top ofthe plate w,and upper surface of A, which is iiush wit-h w. lhe punch [descendsthrough the material through the hole P4 in plate fw, through theeyelet, and down into the hollow die i', being actuated by the carriageF, attached to plate G2. At the same time a pin, s4, in the movingcarriage F, and working in a slot in the lever J 2, vibrates the saidlever J 2 on its pivot m4, and this lever J 2, having a cam-likeportion, m, which comes against the lower end of hollow die t", movessaid die upward in its bearings in the hub c3, and the shoulder of upperdie, 7c, coming down at the same time, the eyelet is pressed between itand top of die t, and is upset or clenched inthe material. rlhecam-surface mis so made that it does not begin to lift the die i untilafter the punch l has descended into i', and the motion of these twodies are so timed as that they shall meet and upset the eyeletjust inthe plane in which the material lies. Thel die i is forced down againinto its normal position (as the cam m6 releases it) by means of aspring, w. While the operation just described of the two dies is going'on, the descent of carriage G2 also causestthrough the medium ot'astrap, m2, passing over pulley l2 and fastened at one end to saidcarriage and at the other to the bar o3) the bar o3 to move back fromthe eyeleting-dies until its forward end passes the mouth of the chuteQ. When another eyelet passes down into the groove in which slide o3travels, as carriage G2 ascends the spiral spring s3 pulls. the bar 03forward again and causes another eyelet to be fed onto the top of die i.rlhis eyelet-inserting mechanism is the same in construction andoperation as that in the eyeleting-machiue patented to Linson De Foreston the 13th day of January, 1863, and I would refer to that patent ior amore full description of it, since no part of my present invention liesin any peculiar-ity of the eyeleting mechanism of my machine,

except a little improvement, which =I will own explain: ltconsists inthe arrangement around the punch l of a bar or plate, q, which isconnected by vertical bars n a (see Fig. l) to a top cross-piece,p, andsprings r and a stop, m, the whole so arranged as that when the head l-lwith the. punch land die 7a descends the bar or presser-foot q will comedown onto the material and remain, pressing on the material while thepunch and die continue to descend and insert (in connection with lowerdie, i) an eyelet and return far enough to have released the punch lfrom the eyelet inserted in the material. It will be seen that by thisdevice the lifting of the material by the eyelet clinging .to the punchl (which would derange the materia-l or sometimes tear it) iseffectually prevented', which is a great desideration in an eyeletingmechanism for inserting eyelets in any fragile material. The stopscrew mmay be turned or set to regulate the relative position of the plate qwith punch l, and consequently the time at which, during the ascentofthe upper die, the material will be relieved from pressure by thei'oot 1. The chute t.) is supplied .with eyelets from a hopper 'andshaking-table, such as fully shown and described in Letters latentgranted to me on the 13th day ofv January, 1863. Since I propose to usethis kind, and it forms no palt of my present invention, I have notshown it in the drawings, and refer for a description ot' it to my saidLetters Patent just above nientioned. 0n the upper surface of the tableG isv arranged a bar or plate, R, in the under side of which is cut arecess, so that a channel is formed between the lower side of It and thetop of G,in which the slip or strip of paper travels, as illustrated bythe red lines in Fig. 2 and the blue lines in Fig. 1.

After having described the several parts and their operations, a. briefexplanation `of the general and connected operations of the wholemachine will be sufficientto render my invention perfectly clear tothose skilled in the arts.

In the machine which I have built and put into successful operation,(and which is like the one herein described in every essential feature,)I employ for the manufacture ofthe tags paper cut into a narrow strip ofa width equal to the width of the tag, and wound in a coil (or a reel.)The coil or reel of paper is placed at a convenient distance from themachine to supply it, in a suitable position, and the end of the stripis passed through Vthe channel o1' passage formed between the bar It andtable G, thence along on top of the plate fw, and along through thechannel or passage 'formed (as already explained) between table B andplate O. When the machine is started, (the chute Q being kept suppliedwith eyelets,) the stands or arms H, Hf, and I all reciprocatevertically and simultaneously. As they descend, the embossing die Kcomesdown into the paper and embosscs it, the perforatingpunch a at the sametime piercing it and forming an eye for the tag, the feeder-point j'feeding the paper along at each stroke a distance equal to the length of-the tag to be made. The eyes punched out by c come successivelyunderthe die lc and punch Z, and have an eyelet inserted in each one ofthem, and, as the strip is fed along, thus embossed, eyed, and eyeleted.The cutting-off die P at each descent cuts oft' from the end of thisstrip a tag or piece of a given design, eyeleted and ornamented. Thismode of operation on the strip of paper is more clearly illustrated atFig. 5, which represents a plan of the strip as it passes through themachine and has these different operations performed on it. In thisfigure P4 is the paper strip, l the eye punched out by punch a, 3 theornamentation, 2 the eyelets. At T4 the dotted lines show the tag-completed by cutting oit' by the die P.

In starting the machine, after punching the .'flrst eye, the strip maybe slid along by hand until this iirst eye isbrought under thefeederpoint f, when the machine may have power turned on and willcontinue automaticallythe pressure of thev feeding-point on and itsimpression into the paper being sufficient to insure its operationloutshould the material from which the tags are being made be so thin or ofsuch nature that the Afeed-point would be apt to injure it,instead ofpulling thest-rip along, then the strip may be set by' a hand a fewtimes, until the eyeleted holes or eyes reach up to the location of thefeeder, so it will drop into an eyeletcd eye, and there the m achinerymay be set in motion by power.

VThe object of having the parts performing the different operationslocated as shown, is to admit of varying the feed and dividing thedistance between the eyeletin g mechanism and the cuttin goff dies intoa greater or less number of equal parts, to make tags ot' differentlengths.

It will be seen that when themachine is intended to make adifferent-sized tag, the die K, with its stand I, must be adiustednearer to or farther from the eyeleting-punch l, and, to corr( spondwith this adjustment, I propose to make the table G (in which is formedthe female for die K) removable, so that another and different one maybe substituted for it. The dies P and itsfernale should also be maderemovable, for the substitution of.different sized dies. Y

It will be seen by reference to Fig. 5, where P4 is the strip of paper,l the eyes, 2 the eyelets, 3 the ornamentation, that the eyes are formedalong the center of the strip in a straight line and equidistant fromeach other. By the employment of a strip thus prepared, (whether theeyes be eyeletcd or not,) I am enabled to produce tags by simplydividing up the said strip, by any suitable cutting-out device ormechanism, into pieces of equal size and similar design, and it will beseen that I can adopt any design desired in the production of tags fromthe strip prepared as shown.

By the employment of an automatic or other mechanicalfeed mechanism, itwill be seen I can divide the strip by the cutting mechanism veryrapidly and very perfectly, so as to produce the tags with any givendesign with their eyes centrally located, and at a much less cost thanthey can be made now by any known process of manufacture.

What Iclaim in this application as new, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

1. Forming the tags from a strip of material having eyes formed in aline through its center equidistant.

2. Feeding such strip of material through the cutting or stamping-outmechanism by means of a mechanical feed.

`In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 24th dayof August, 1863.

' 'rHoMAs B. DE FOREST. [n s] In presence of- J. W. NARAMORE, WM. E.Downs.

